


Mistletoe for Hugs

by noiproksa



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Cuddles, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Mistletoe, Self-Made Family, Team Free Will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 01:10:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16964877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noiproksa/pseuds/noiproksa
Summary: Dean and Sam explain Christmas traditions to a confused Cas. When they substitute kisses under mistletoes for hugs, cuddling ensues.(Intended as gen, but can be read as Destiel pre-slash.)





	Mistletoe for Hugs

**Author's Note:**

> Another Christmas oneshot, this one for the Holiday Mixtape. Hope you enjoy. :)

“Don’t fall off,” Dean instructed helpfully as Sam, who was standing on the last stave of the step ladder, was stretching to get the angel on top of the Christmas tree. The tree was so big they had had to put it up in the library.

“You know, you could actually help instead of just standing around making useless comments,” Sam retorted, but he finally succeeded in his mission and could step down off the ladder.

It felt good, decorating the bunker and making it feel Christmassy. The years before, they had never really had the time to put up Christmas decorations, being busy with hunting and saving the world instead. But there was no world-ending catastrophe to take care of at the moment and so they had decided to make the bunker feel more like home in order to get into the Christmas spirit.

Dean grinned at the picture their Christmas tree presented. They had done a good job decorating it, if he did say so himself, even though there wasn’t really a theme to the different ornaments because Cas hadn’t understood why they should stick to specific colors.

The best part was their angel on the treetop. Dean hadn’t been able to resist buying the doll-sized trench coat and putting it on the Christmas angel they used as a tree topper. Of course, the insinuation had gone right over Cas’ head. Maybe he thought that lots of angels wore trench coats while in a human vessel.

Cas, next to him, was staring at the angel with a curious expression. Apparently, Dean’s explanation for why they had to put an angel on top of the tree had not been entirely satisfying.

“So, what’s next on the list?” Dean asked before Cas could question the tradition again.

“Mistletoe,” Sam said as he took one from the library table and held it out to Dean. Dean, in return, pointed to the door that connected the library with the control room. This was clearly another job for his gigantor brother.

Sam rolled his eyes, but went over to the door nevertheless to attach the mistletoe to the frame while Dean and Cas were standing back and watching him.

“I do not understand,” Cas stated, a phrase he had used a lot these last couple of hours they had spent decorating the bunker. “What do mistletoes have to do with Christmas?”

“It helps you hook up with chicks,” Dean explained. “If people meet under a mistletoe, they have to kiss.”

This seemed to confuse Cas even more, but before he could inquire further, Sam, who had completed his task and rejoined them, corrected Dean’s explanation. “Actually, the tradition came from England. The ancient druids thought mistletoe had supernatural powers and could be used to ward off evil spirits…”

“Aaand I just fell asleep,” Dean interrupted Sam’s history lesson.

Cas looked at him closely and stated, “You appear to be awake,” which made Dean roll his eyes.

“Anyway,” Sam continued, “it’s a symbol of love and friendship and it’s really much more than a way to make your romantic interest kiss you.” He threw a quick glare in Dean’s direction for explaining Christmas traditions wrong to their angel.

Cas for his part seemed deep in thought. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “We don’t have any ‘romantic interests’ in the bunker. Wouldn’t it make more sense to hug instead whenever we meet under the mistletoe?”

Of course, Dean had only intended it as Christmas decoration, minus the whole kissing part. But Cas with his usual penchant for taking everything literally kind of had a point, so he said, “You know what? It would, actually.—I declare this our ‘huggletoe.’” He motioned to the mistletoe und grinned brightly at Sam and Cas, proud of his name suggestion.

“That’s a dumb name,” Sam promptly said.

“Cuddletoe?” Dean suggested.

Sam shook his head and said, “You’re an idiot.” Then he just walked out on them.

“Snuggletoe!” Dean yelled after him just to wind him up. Then he turned back around to Cas, grinning at him, but Cas was looking at the mistletoe in wonder and contemplation.

***

Even though Dean had joked around about hugs and cuddles, he avoided going into the library the next few days. After all, hugs were there for times when someone almost died or thought someone had died or _actually_ had died and come back. He much preferred watching Sam and Cas cross paths in the door to the library from a safe distance in the control room and making fun of them and their awkward half-hugs under the ‘cuddletoe.’

On the second day, Sam made an obvious attempt at getting back at Dean for his teasing by telling him to fetch a Christmas book from the library, where Dean knew Cas was currently holed up.

“Nice try,” Dean said and stayed right where he was, earning himself a bitch-face from his brother.

The next day, mistletoes suddenly started appearing elsewhere in the bunker. First in the door to the kitchen, then in the corridor with their rooms and finally above the entrance to the bunker. Sammy had really upped his game, Dean had to give it to him. It was getting harder and harder to avoid all the places where mistletoes were hanging.

Finally, Dean and Sam met under the mistletoe in the control room and Dean pulled his brother into a short, one-armed hug, patting his shoulder twice and conceding “Well played,” before letting go again.

Sam was looking at him strangely, so Dean pointed at the mistletoe above them and said, “Cuddletoe,” in case Sammy had forgotten that he had put one up there.

“That wasn’t me,” Sam said. “I thought you were going overboard with decorating.”

Dean furrowed his brows. Either Sam was lying or… “Son of a bitch.—Cas?” he asked. Why would Cas try to prank them by hanging up dozens of mistletoes throughout the bunker?

Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Seems like it. Guess we found his favorite Christmas tradition.”

Where was the angel anyway? “I’m gonna straighten this out,” Dean declared and was already halfway to Cas’ room when he remembered that he could use the direct line to the angel. “Castiel,” he prayed. “You’re busted.”

A crashing sound made him stop dead in his tracks. Wait—had that come from _his_ room? He changed course and headed for his own room instead. And there Cas was, sitting on the floor, next to a step ladder. A new mistletoe was hanging from the doorframe to Dean’s room. Caught red-handed, as it were. Cas scrambled to his feet.

“Wanna tell me what you’re… oomph!” The moment Dean had reached Cas, the angel flung himself at him, crushing him in a full body hug.

Right. They were under the cuddletoe together. Dean tentatively wrapped his arms around Cas, rubbing his back. It actually felt nice to hug the angel when there was no imminent danger.

Once they parted again, Cas answered Dean’s unfinished question, “I thought the bunker could use more mistletoes. They look quite festive.”

Dean rolled his eyes. Festive? Yeah, right… “Cut the crap. A couple days ago you didn’t even know they had anything to do with Christmas.—What’s really going on?”

Cas’ eyes flitted away from Dean’s and he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Hugs are a sign of affection in human culture,” he finally explained.

“Okay?” Dean said, confused.

“Sam explained to me that Christmas time is when you share it with those who matter to you the most,” Cas continued. “And I feel that I harbor a great deal of affection. For you.”

Wow. Hanging up dozens of cuddletoes was officially the weirdest way to ask for a hug ever!

“You must know… It was not easy for me to figure out,” Cas said, almost defensively. When he noticed Dean’s nonplussed expression, he clarified, “Hugging.”

Of course, that didn’t make things any clearer, so all Dean could say was, “Uhm… _what_?”

“First you have to know if the other person is planning on hugging you. It is not as if you verbalize your intention and announce ‘I am going to hug you now.’ You have to pay close attention to the body language as to not be ambushed by the hug. Next, humans consider it impolite to forget to put your arms around the back of the person hugging you. I believe Sam called it ‘hugging back.’ Then you have to count the seconds in your head because it is similarly considered impolite to hang on to the hug for too long. And of course there is the back-slapping, which is still sometimes quite confusing. For example, how much force do you use, how many times do you slap the other person’s back…”

“Okay, okay, I get the idea,” Dean interrupted him because jeez—he had never really thought about any of those things. “Hugging is not as intrinsic to angels as it is to humans.”

“My point is, I figured most of those peculiarities out and I found that I enjoy this particular human custom quite a lot. I believe I have become quite the expert hugger.” Dean was about to mention something about bragging, but then again, Cas really had hugging all figured out. “Yet you do not seem comfortable sharing that sign of affection with me outside of near-death situations,” Cas finally finished his explanation.

Wait… what? “I’m plenty comfortable.” Okay, maybe avoiding the library those first two days hadn’t been his finest move. Maybe he _did_ have some hang-ups about openly showing the affection he very clearly felt for Cas. But that was normal human behavior. You did not go around hugging your male friends all day long. Cas, of course, had never really understood human behavior all that well, so explaining that might just confuse him further.

This was as good an opportunity as any to step up and overcome his human hang-ups. With that thought in mind, Dean reached for the cuddletoe above his head and tugged it down, throwing it into the trash can. Then he announced, “Watch out, I’m gonna hug you now.” He wouldn’t want to ambush-hug the angel, after all.

“I told you, I _have_ figured out the nonverbal cues…”

Before Cas could finish that sentence, Dean had wrapped the angel in his arms again, waiting patiently for Cas to ‘hug back’ the way they had taught him to. They stayed like that for a moment, silent in their embrace, comfortable in each other’s space. Dean was quite the expert hugger himself, after all.

“You don’t need a cuddletoe to get a hug, alright?” Dean finally mumbled, not quite ready to let go of Cas just yet, even though the angel had probably counted the seconds inside his head and the ‘appropriate human hugging time’ was in all likelihood over by now.

“Oh,” Cas said, not letting go either. “In that case you might want to avoid my room as well as Sam’s. I already finished decorating them.”

Dean grinned into Cas’ shoulder. ‘Decorating’ was most likely code for ‘putting cuddletoes up everywhere.’ They probably wouldn’t be able to get around the bunker without stopping every few feet to hug each other. But as Dean felt Cas’ arms tighten around him in a perfect imitation of a human seeking contact and comfort, he found that he couldn’t bring himself to care.

About time they showed and shared their affection anyway. It was Christmas time, after all.


End file.
